Thursday, April 30, 2009

It was a big party at my hummingbird feeder today. There was constant action and once I saw two there at one time. I also learned that the sugary drink needs to be replaced every few days or it gets moldy and could be bad for the birds, so I have been extra careful. Still no song birds at the other feeder.

This is my cat Gingo (the short version of Ginger Mango). She had a chronic sinus infection when I found her in a dilapitated old barn which would cause her to sneeze huge green boogers everywhere. I took her to the vet dozens of times but her sickness persisted until she finally got all her teeth pulled out! They were all infected and that's what was causing her sinus problems apparently. Now she is totally healthy and only has one tooth. Needless to say, she eats soft food. She lives with my parents and won't leave my mom's lap and follows her wherever she goes.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Friday, April 17, 2009

here is the story of Piggy, a dog rescued from the streets of the Dominican Republic and nursed back to health by volunteers with Animal Balance, brought back to the U.S. by another great group called SPECIEES and now living happily in the Big Apple.

A few of us volunteers went to the Dominican Republic in February forthe Animal Balance veterinarian campaign. There, we performed surgeryon 389 dogs and cats in two weeks, but one particular pup grabbedeveryone's attention for a few days. At a little town called LaEntrada, we came across this poor dog who got hit by a bus, about amonth before Animal Balance arrived. He never got treated for hiswounds, so he simply had exposed bones and flesh the entire timebefore he came to us. Because of his wounds, he would've beentargeted and attacked by all the other packs of street dogs (which areeverywhere in the DR), and he was skin and bones, covered in maggotsand giant parasites.http://cid-658ddf8603911d26.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/thedr/IMG_1241.jpg

My friend Andrea removed about 40-something roach-sized ticks andother large parasites from the shabby excuse for fur he had at thetime, and she and other volunteers removed about 30-something parasiteeggs from each of his ears.

He was still skin and bones, but he would attack his food, so he wason his way to recovery.However, three legged dogs live very short lives in the DR, because ofall the packs of street dogs. If our little three legged friend wasgoing to have a chance at life, he had to leave the country.

So, that's when SPECIEES came in. SPECIEES facilitated getting himout of the country and into my apartment as my new roommate. Theprocess was incredibly smooth; Animal Balance gave him his treatmentsand prepped him for customs, and took him to a flight to the US. Whenhis flight arrived to the US, he had to spend less than an hour atcustoms before he was released to my permanent care.

Well, he's been in NYC for just over two weeks, and you wouldn'trecognize this is the same dog. Here he is now, with a new shinycoat, lounging among some of his toys:

Last week, I took him to Central Park to meet other dogs for the firsttime, and when I took him off the leash, he just cowered against mylegs and growled and whined at all the other dogs that came near,probably because of his harsh experience in the DR. I was prettyafraid that he just wouldn't be socialized.

Of course, that was a pretty silly thought. After just a few days,less than a week, with continued exposure to other friendly NYC dogs,he's now chasing after dogs twice his size to wrestle and play. Heparticularly favors giant black labs.

And he's becoming very popular. On this morning's walk throughCentral Park, all sorts of people I didn't know came up yelling "It'sPiggy!" because his story has been spreading by word of mouth allthrough the Park and several neighborhoods of Manhattan.

He's currently snoozing at my feet, and I'm about to take him foranother walk. He knows almost every dog in the Upper East Side ofManhattan by now.

Monday, April 13, 2009

I'm going to the Galapagos May 30-June 15th! I'm going to spay and neuter dogs and cats. Well, I won't be doing the actual spaying and neutering! I'm going with a group called Animal Balance. Their mission is to humanely sterilize dogs and cats so they don't continue to breed more homeless and hungry animals who then gobble up the native birds and lizards. They help the dogs, cats and native wildlife.

It's really interesting because I usually think of the pet overpopulation problem here in the U.S. as a humongous and non-conquerable issue, their are just SO many animals but on the Galapagos Islands, because they are islands, its really more of a solvable problem.

If you would like to read more about it, please go to their website. I'll be sure to post some updates and pictures when I'm there!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Jasper is at Brooklyn Animal Care and Control right now. He was brought to this high kill shelter as a stray on 3/31/09. The medical staff feel Jasper is around 2 years old and weighs 62 pounds. His loving personality is obvious once you take the time to pet this snuggle bunny. He would do well as an additional dog or as the only dog in an active household. He will need plenty of exercise and mental stimulation in his new home. Jasper needs a foster or adopter as soon as possible as his time is up at the city pound and we need to keep him safe. If you would like to help Jasper please return this post for an application.

Please contact Paula at pjjp07@verizon.net if you can foster Jasper. She will transport him anywhere within 2 hours of NYC.

Things not to do today: Buy a dyed chick! Chicks are chickens, not punk rockers. Don't dip them in manic panic and give them to your niece.Things to do today: Take your dog to Amoeba! They want you to, really!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Obama has broken a campaign promise to rescue a dog. According to reports he has bought a dog from a breeder. I am deeply saddened. Especially with his influence, and the impact he could have made.

There is honestly no good reason to breed dogs, 4 million dogs and cats are put to sleep every year for lack of homes, and yet someone as intelligent as Obama would choose to support breeding? Horrible.